Swan song from Yerevan
Vasily Grossman, a Ukranian-born Jew, was a war correspondent for the Soviet army newspaper Red Star. His dispatches from the…
Epic journeys
Consider for a moment the plight of the willow warbler. Russian birds of this species fly between eastern Siberia and…
Life in the Augean stables
What, really, is a literary education for? What’s the point of it? How, precisely, does it help when you’re another…
Decorous Confessions
Unexpectedly, he made a sober success with his self-published book of decorous confessions. It eschewed turmoil in the bedchamber and…
Escape through the locks
The title, the subtitle, the author’s plain name, even the jacket’s photograph of a laughing old lady in sunglasses: none…
Je ne regrette rien
Verdi’s La Traviata is the story of a courtesan who is redeemed when she gives up the man she loves…
Pomp and severance
The Coronation Chair currently stands all spruced up, following last year’s conservation, under a crimson canopy, by the west entrance…
Where are our garlic-breathing Gallic bretheren?
Oh the French! Where would the Anglo publishing industry be without them? Ever since Peter Mayle first made goo-goo eyes…
Secrets and lies
Mid-August is a hopeless time for films; so hopeless, useless and bleak, if I don’t use three words when one…
‘I adore the stage’
Michael Kennedy salutes the mezzo-soprano Janet Baker,who celebrates her 80th birthday next week
Political power
Revolution shook Mexico between 1910 and 1920, but radical political change was not mirrored in the art of the period.…
A trio of gems
Jewels is everything a George Balanchine admirer could ask for. The sumptuous triptych, set to scores by Fauré, Stravinsky and…
Wagner’s dream
It would be interesting to know why Tristan und Isolde was placed in the Proms programme in between Siegfried and…
Tragic comedies
How did our comedies become so sad? BBC1’s new sitcom Big School (Fridays) opened with a scene that would probably…
Speed limit
Of course there’s a future for digital radio, it’s just that we’ll probably be listening to it online, or on…
All aboard!
Brother, can you spare me a train? Or maybe just a Pullman carriage or two? There are so many brilliant…
High life
On board the Weatherbird off the Peloponnese The old girl groans and creaks as we tack time and again, the…
Low life
Hotel Trepaner, St Raphael, French Riviera: I have read all ten reviews on this site. The overall rating (given by…
Real life
If you are bullied at school, you see, you never stop feeling bullied, no matter how old you are. It…
Long life
The Italian shop assistant accused by Oprah Winfrey of showing racial prejudice towards her in a shop in Zurich has…
Veterans’ day
As part of the after-dinner entertainment on a cruise ship recently, I encountered a couple of comedians. One claimed he…
Bridge
I’m on the train back from the Brighton Congress, where I’ve been playing in the Swiss Pairs, and I’m still…
Fawltless
David Howell turned in a sparkling performance in the 100th British Chess Championship in Torquay, which finished last week. In…
